Recently, Namco Bandai confirmed that Tales of Xillia will be coming out in English in North America, and as a part of that, Sony did a Q&A session with the publisher where they presented some questions from fans of the series.

Here’s a few of the questions and answers that were most interesting; if you’d like to read the full Q&A, you can check it out over on the official PlayStation Blog via the link below.

Jeff Rubenstein, PlayStation Blog:Tales of Graces f came to PS3, but Vesperia didn’t hit PS3 in North America. Now Tales of Xillia has been announced for North America. How do you determine which titles in the series get a an English-language conversion?

Hideo Baba, NAMCO BANDAI Studios Inc.: Given the current resources assigned to the Tales of series team, I am always trying to find ways to assign staff members to work on a Western localized title as well as a new game for Japan when possible. However, the team’s main objective is to create new titles for Japan first, and unfortunately staff resources are not always available. Moving forward, I would really like to assemble teams to release as many of the main Tales of games overseas as possible.

PSB:Xillia is the best rated Tales of series ever in Japan; it received a 39/40 in Famitsu. What improvements have been made from Tales of Graces f that you think merited such critical acclaim?

HB: I believe the game was acclaimed because of its maturity as the 15th anniversary title in Japan. As I previously mentioned, we are always challenging ourselves to evolve the series and to develop each title that will surpass fan expectations from the last title. I think that these gameplay evolutions from game to game over the course of the past 15 years have helped the series earn its critical acclaim.

PSB: Artistically, Tales of Xillia is very different than the last few Tales games, featuring more “mature” character models. What audience is the story geared toward? Tales of Graces f felt aimed at a pretty young crowd.

HB: The main audience in Japan remains continues to be the core Tales of series fans. However, we know we need to acquire new fans while also keeping returning fans of the series invested in our new titles. The new character design is a big change for the series, and helps us attract new players without sacrificing the devoted Tales of fans. I think you may recognize Milla as a mature character in terms of her portrayal in the game. Our intentions with Milla, for example, is to create a woman with strong convictions that female players can aspire to be like when they grow up. Of course she is also portrayed to be adored by young men like Jude.

PSB:Tales of Xillia came out in Japan last year, but won’t drop in the West until next year. With this extra time, will the team provide any additions to the international version?

HB: I understand this concern well, but we consider the Japanese version of the game as a finished product and hope overseas fans can enjoy the game as it is. The same can be said for all the DLC content as well. There is no big change between the original Japanese version and the international version because we want to provide the same gameplay experience as much as possible between all regions.

About Eric Patterson

Eric got his start via self-publishing game-related fanzines in junior high, and now has one goal in life: making sure EGM has as much coverage of niche Japanese games as he can convince them to fit in. Eric’s also active in the gaming community on a personal level, being an outspoken voice on topics such as equality in gaming and consumer rights.

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Namco Bandai Answers Questions About English Release of Tales of Xillia

Recently, Namco Bandai confirmed that Tales of Xillia will be coming out in English in North America, and as a part of that, Sony did a Q&A session with the publisher where they presented some questions from fans of the series.

Recently, Namco Bandai confirmed that Tales of Xillia will be coming out in English in North America, and as a part of that, Sony did a Q&A session with the publisher where they presented some questions from fans of the series.

Here’s a few of the questions and answers that were most interesting; if you’d like to read the full Q&A, you can check it out over on the official PlayStation Blog via the link below.

Jeff Rubenstein, PlayStation Blog:Tales of Graces f came to PS3, but Vesperia didn’t hit PS3 in North America. Now Tales of Xillia has been announced for North America. How do you determine which titles in the series get a an English-language conversion?

Hideo Baba, NAMCO BANDAI Studios Inc.: Given the current resources assigned to the Tales of series team, I am always trying to find ways to assign staff members to work on a Western localized title as well as a new game for Japan when possible. However, the team’s main objective is to create new titles for Japan first, and unfortunately staff resources are not always available. Moving forward, I would really like to assemble teams to release as many of the main Tales of games overseas as possible.

PSB:Xillia is the best rated Tales of series ever in Japan; it received a 39/40 in Famitsu. What improvements have been made from Tales of Graces f that you think merited such critical acclaim?

HB: I believe the game was acclaimed because of its maturity as the 15th anniversary title in Japan. As I previously mentioned, we are always challenging ourselves to evolve the series and to develop each title that will surpass fan expectations from the last title. I think that these gameplay evolutions from game to game over the course of the past 15 years have helped the series earn its critical acclaim.

PSB: Artistically, Tales of Xillia is very different than the last few Tales games, featuring more “mature” character models. What audience is the story geared toward? Tales of Graces f felt aimed at a pretty young crowd.

HB: The main audience in Japan remains continues to be the core Tales of series fans. However, we know we need to acquire new fans while also keeping returning fans of the series invested in our new titles. The new character design is a big change for the series, and helps us attract new players without sacrificing the devoted Tales of fans. I think you may recognize Milla as a mature character in terms of her portrayal in the game. Our intentions with Milla, for example, is to create a woman with strong convictions that female players can aspire to be like when they grow up. Of course she is also portrayed to be adored by young men like Jude.

PSB:Tales of Xillia came out in Japan last year, but won’t drop in the West until next year. With this extra time, will the team provide any additions to the international version?

HB: I understand this concern well, but we consider the Japanese version of the game as a finished product and hope overseas fans can enjoy the game as it is. The same can be said for all the DLC content as well. There is no big change between the original Japanese version and the international version because we want to provide the same gameplay experience as much as possible between all regions.

About Eric Patterson

Eric got his start via self-publishing game-related fanzines in junior high, and now has one goal in life: making sure EGM has as much coverage of niche Japanese games as he can convince them to fit in. Eric’s also active in the gaming community on a personal level, being an outspoken voice on topics such as equality in gaming and consumer rights.